Recollections
by Bustahead
Summary: DanteLady pairing. With a bit of a twist which will become apparent. Read, review, but most of all, ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyone. Okay, so this is the first romance I'm trying to write that doesn't involve two OCs. So go easy on me. So what exactly made me choose to write this? Well...(smiles) I can't explain it. I just felt the urge. How does that saying go? "Fools give you reasons, Wise men never try"? No wait, never mind._

_Anyway, important note to make here. This fic is dedicated to Lady Gryffin. Because she loves Lady/Dante so._

**Recollections**

It was a hot, humid night and the clouds were swollen thick. Dante could smell it, could smell the onset of a summer storm. While it was happening, it would suddenly become cool, and the rain would paint the world anew. Dusky leaves would bloom into a beautiful lime, the yellow blades of grass would suddenly burst into a lively green. Birds would stop singing their exhausted faded melodies.

And all that could be heard was the sound of the rain.

But as soon as it stopped, the air would become muggy, so hot that one could barely breathe without choking on the humidity. Dante would be forced away from his leather and would find himself wearing more conventional clothing. He felt however, that they made him feel bulky and graceless even though in reality he was just as beautiful as he was in his usual clothes.

Recently, Dante had been feeling restless and he knew it was not because of the coming storm. He knew it was not because of the excitement he usually felt before he went out on a mission. For once, Dante found himself to be nervous, a feeling he was unaccustomed with. And what was perhaps irritating, or rather, _humiliating_ was the fact that this anxiety or -dare he say it?- _fear_ was not brought on by any devil.

No. It was a human girl. _Woman_. Dante hastily corrected himself. Woman. Lady hated being referred to as a girl and Dante could see why. It underestimated her drastically and it made her seem incapable of doing anything for herself. No, Lady was a woman in her own right. She had grace, she had dignity and a poised beauty that Dante sometime felt that she wasn't even aware of. But what was perhaps even more appealing to Dante was her sense of determination, her refusal to give up, no matter what the odds. In her, he sensed a kindred spirit.

But there were more things than this that he admired her for. Her innocence for one. It had helped to win his heart but it wasn't the ultimate cause. No…it was her humanity. It called to him like a beacon and he was shamelessly attracted to it, like a moth to the flame, like Icarus to the sun. Yet he had never made a move since that episode in the library, where he had leaned in and where she had averted her head in something akin to revulsion. Now he understood it to be something closely related to fear. Icarus sprang to his mind again. "Don't fly too close to the sun, you'll get scorched". Don't move too close to Lady, you'll fall to the ground like a dying bird. It was odd, sometimes Lady intimidated him, but only because of the fact that she was so beautiful, and so full of grace. He felt that she was perfect for him and could only hope that he was right for her too. Recently, even though he had tried to hide it, he had been careful in the way he treated her, not wanting to do something that would cause their friendship to suddenly rot and turn to ash.

The enormity of what he wanted to do made itself known yet again and he was daunted. A sudden stab of worry lanced through him and he found himself close to backing down. Close. He gritted his teeth and heard a knock on the door. He felt his body brace itself as though he was going to take an extremely dangerous leap or as though he was going to jump off the top of Mount Everest.

He flung open the door, his nerves causing his movements to become abrupt and stared around. There was no-one in sight, just a stray cat that blinked up at him in confusion, mewed and then disappeared into the darkness. Dante shook his head in disbelief before closing the door and leaning against it. A crack of thunder suddenly rent the air and rumbled ominously, shaking the building to the rafters. Dante closed his eyes and sighed as he felt the power of the elements wash over him and drown out his thoughts. The temperature was falling rapidly, all he could hear was rain, and the sound helped to calm him, turning his anxiety that had been so cumbersome into something small, compact and above all, manageable.

His cool shattered immediately when his ears picked up another knock at the door. He wrenched the door open, only to get nearly decapitated by a branch from a nearby tree. A wind had picked up, teasing the branch playfully and causing it to rap harshly at his door. Dante glared at the offending twig balefully; he had meant to chop it off sometime ago and it hadn't been the first time he had been tricked by the wind and the branch either.

He sighed before moving back inside and resumed his pacing, his eyes continually darting to the clock, then to his watch and then to the clock on his microwave display. When he had told Lady about tonight's mission, she had told him that she would be here by seven. It was now five to seven and Dante was on tenterhooks, his nerves stretched like they had never been before. He'd been on dates before but none of them ever felt as though they were going to turn into something serious and Dante had soon become bored and had ended it after a few weeks or so. They simply weren't his type.

But Lady…she was something else entirely. She wasn't like one of those silly girls he'd been with before, she didn't throw herself at him, she didn't try to flash a breast at him while trying to act coy at the same time. Okay, so maybe the latter hadn't actually happened but hey, he could exaggerate sometimes!

Dante looked back at the clock again and his eyes widened when he saw the time. Two minutes left! Soon now, he would hear her bike roar down the street, screech to a halt and then purr as she cut the engine. Then she'd knock on the door, the way she always did out of force of habit before shoving the heavy doors open. They'd banter, they always did before finally leaving for the mission, usually racing each other, testing their skills at driving. Dante had to hand it to Lady, she had good taste. It had been her who had made him realize exactly how much he loved motorcycles.

Dante's eyes flicked to the time again. Thirty seconds left! He grinned before taking up his usual position, his usual pose, so then he looked as cool as ever, as controlled as he always was so then he could hide his worry and his misgivings. Lady wasn't like other girls, he had to be careful how he asked this. His eyes darted towards the clock yet again.

Three…two…one…

Dante blinked before frowning and looking at his clock before quickly checking his watch. Oh good, another five seconds. Four, three, two, one…

There was nothing.

It was only then that Dante realized that he hadn't even heard her bike approach or stop. She hadn't turned up.

Had she known somehow that he was going to ask her out on a proper date? Had she known somehow, like how she had known that Dante was going to try and kiss her when all he had done was lean towards her? He hadn't even puckered up for God's sake! That lean could have been anything right? Like maybe he was trying to get a crick out of his shoulder, or maybe he had been…uh…had an itch? Okay, so maybe there wasn't a lot he could have been intending to do but she had somehow anticipated it, even _before_ he had leaned in. He had felt her stiffen straight away, even before he had made a single move towards her. Had she somehow known of his intentions today as well?

He slumped down in his chair and sighed despondently. Maybe she'd just gotten caught up in traffic? Or maybe she'd met with some kind of accident? It could be _any_ accident. She _was_ a human after all. If she was hit by a truck, she wouldn't be able to get back up. Worry flooded through him yet again and he got out his mobile phone quickly, planning to call her. It was at that point that his machismo persona caught up on him. He didn't want to seem too desperate, Lady might laugh at that. But then what if something _had_ happened?

He bit his lip indecisively before his eyes flicked to his watch again. Crap! Had an hour already passed so quickly? And Lady _still_ wasn't here? He started dialling her number quickly but then paused and tensed. Had he heard that or was he just imagining things? No wait, there it was, the low roar of her bike, rapidly increasing in pitch and volume. He quickly dropped the phone before resuming his previous pose, feet on the table, hands behind his head, a calm smirk on his face, trying to show he was unconcerned, carefree.

Lady's knock sounded before she pushed the door open. She was wearing that blouse of hers, and that short skirt, her long boots accentuating her shapely legs. Dante struggled to keep his eyes on her face rather than on her breasts but the fact that he was able to see a lacy pale pink bra did nothing to help his situation or to calm his nerves. What was even worse was the fact that Lady seemed completely unaware of the fact that her bra was on display. She smiled at him but he returned the gesture with an impassive expression.

'You're late,' he said calmly. Lady's eyes widened slightly before she frowned at him, resting one hand on her hip, balancing her weight on her uninjured leg. Though she still hadn't recovered from Arkham's attack, she insisted on continuing to hunt demons with him.

'I am not,' she replied firmly.

'And there I was thinking that I'd met a girl who could actually be on time,' Dante drawled, his eyes half closed. 'You're late by an hour.'

'Am not!'

'Are too!'

'I'm _not_!' Lady persisted. She paused before looking at the clock. Then she collapsed into a fit of giggles. Dante stared at her, baffled. This reaction was _certainly _not the expected one. He had been hoping for an apology. Lady eventually quietened down and looked at him, a big grin on her face.

'I guess fighting's all you're good for, huh?' She said, a teasing smirk on her face. Dante frowned slightly.

'Fighting's not _all_ I'm good at,' he returned, quirking an eyebrow. He couldn't help himself, he _loved_ seeing the somewhat shocked expression on Lady's face as he delivered each innuendo. But for some odd reason, it didn't work today.

'Dante. Do you know what day it is today?'

'Yeah…a Sunday? So?'

'Do you know what the date is?'

'Well, I was hoping it would be _you_,' he purred at her. Lady paused and frowned before rolling her eyes.

'The clocks went back today.'

'What!'

'It's seven now. Not eight,' Lady continued, enjoying herself. Dante continued to stare at her before getting up and grabbing his guns.

'Let's just go, okay?'

---

Lady couldn't help but notice that the drive over towards the infested house was subdued. Dante was being unusually quiet, as though he was deep in thought. Lady frowned inwardly; _surely_ he didn't feel insulted? After all, forgetting that the clocks had gone back or forth was an honest mistake. It had happened to _her_ enough times. Somehow though, Lady had a feeling that this was not what was bothering Dante. He had a face on him that matched the weather; thunderous.

Eventually, the two pulled to a halt. Dante got up quickly, kicking the stand down, and looking around eagerly. As long as demons were around, he'd be able to keep himself distracted. The issue about how to ask Lady for a date would be pushed to one side until they were all gone. For a crazy minute, Dante wished that there would be an endless supply of demons, but right now, there didn't seem to be any in sight.

The streets were empty. There was no sound, save for a dog barking in the distance. It growled and gave a high-pitched squeal before turning silent. That was all Dante needed to know, to understand that perhaps the streets were not as silent as they had at first seemed.

'Come on, this way.'

'Just because a dog yelped, it doesn't mean a demon did it,' Lady said. 'It could have been that it's owner came out and whacked it on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.' Dante sighed. That was another reason why he admired Lady so much. Most other girls wouldn't dare disagree with him. Lady had flown in the face of all that and never hesitated to argue and disagree with him. In fact, whenever she had the chance to dispute his opinions she would never pass up the chance and would pounce on the opportunity with glee. At first it intrigued Dante, and then it irritated him. But now it delighted him to know that Lady was the one for him, the only one he had ever found himself wanting desperately.

He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by a sudden gasp. A Vanguard stood before them. Dante frowned.

'Is that it?' he scoffed. 'One?' It was suddenly joined by two more. Lady took a step back. She had only seen two before, and that had been at a distance. She had watched it as it fell from the tower dead but never before had she come so close to one. The other time she had seen one, was when Dante had just come back from the demonic realm and when they'd been forced to do battle with over one hundred demons. But Dante had taken care of that one before she had even had a shot at it.

She remembered the first time she had seen a demon and she had been terrified. She would have been a fool _not_ to be scared at first. Until she learnt an important lesson. They could bleed and they could die. They had added strength, yes, but in that respect, they were not so different from humans. It seemed as though she would have to apply the same logic for these demons too.

But even before she had the chance to ready herself, a scythe came flying her way, knocking her off balance. Pain blasted through her like a cannon, white stars thudded behind her eyes, blinding her vision and she screamed as something pierced her injured leg. She was still screaming when she blacked out.

---

'Damn that Scythe…' Lady groaned softly, placing her hand to the bandage on her injured leg. When she took her hand away, it was stained red with her own blood. They were back at the agency, and Dante had been watching her with a strange unfathomable expression on his face. He quirked an eyebrow at her comment.

'Scythe?'

'Yeah…that thing we just fought…that Scythe…'

'Oh, you mean the Vanguard,' Dante said in realization.

'No…it's a Scythe.'

'It's a Vanguard.'

'Hey! I call them as I see them and I saw a Scythe!' Dante looked down at her, saw the defiance in her eyes and the grim set of her face and then shrugged before bending down to help her.

'Okay then…Scythe…' he murmured. Lady frowned. She hadn't expected Dante to bow down to that. She'd expected some more fight from him ending in steely silence, the way it always did. 'Let me get that for you.' Dante motioned at her reddening bandage.

'No. I can do it myself!' Dante paused, hearing the sharp protest but then decided to try and help anyway. Lady swatted at his hands, not wanting him anywhere near her legs, possessed by a sense of virtue. 'I can do it myself!' she repeated. Dante raised his head and looked her. The look in his eyes took her breath away. She had never seen him look at her in such a way, as though he was hurt or wounded.

'Dante?' she said uncertainly.

'Just let someone help you. Just this once.'

'Dante-'

'Please…' Lady fell silent, and Dante took it as acceptance and redressed the wound deftly, quickly. He drew away from her once he was finished and helped her to her feet. She stumbled, wincing and hissing in pain as her weight fell upon her hurt leg. He steadied her and held her in her arms. Her eyes widened and thoughts raced through her head.

What was he up to? He _knew_ she didn't like being touched…what was going on? Why was it that she actually found herself enjoying being held in such a way? She raised her head to look at him and felt her body tensing as she found his face close to her own.

'Lady…' he whispered meaningfully. Then before she could pull away or react, he kissed her. For a fleeting second, she thought of pushing him away and running for it. Only for a fleeting second. She nuzzled into his chest, pressing her body against her warmth and found herself kissing back.

As he felt Lady responding to him, Dante felt his heart burst with happiness.

He was not to know of the sorrow that lay before him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Broken glass littered the old wooden floor of Devil May Cry. Dust gathered on the long abandoned pool table, dying the green surface white. Empty beer bottles and cans lay carelessly strewn about the whole building, nestling amongst decaying pizza boxes, their contents barely discernible, attractive and appealing only to the flies that buzzed constantly about the agency. Rats seldom visited, but only because of the fact that a stray cat had decided to make the agency it's new hunting ground.

The agency was a shadow of its former self. It had once looked efficient, a true place of business, where money had been made by the thousands. Now however, the agency could barely be construed as an office. It really did seem as though it would barely be able to stay active and would barely be able to keep up the payments for a few days more before the whole business, if it could even be called that anymore, inevitably collapsed.

This was misleading to say the least. The payments were easily met and there would be no problems in keeping up with those for a while yet.

It appeared as though the agency was not the only thing that had changed. The man who owned the agency was no longer the man he had been before. Gone was the youthful carefree appearance, gone was the laid-back attitude, gone was the garishly long hair. Whereas the agency had become a shambles, everything about the son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda had become somehow more refined.

His hair, before unkempt had now become styled into something that kept it's own fashion. It was unique, unique but good. It suited him well. The torn clothing had been replaced by garments that were immaculate, that were taken care of in an almost obsessive fanatical manner. The sloppy brown leather boots had also been discarded for a pair of more refined professional ones, that were black and shone and reflected the light.

Yet clothes and hair were not the only things that had been drastically altered as time went on. There was something about the hunter himself that had changed, whether it was an irreversible change no one did know, nor could they possibly ever hope to find out.

For even Dante's personality itself had somehow become somewhat more cultured. Well, that was the wrong word his friends used. What would have been more accurate is to say that his personality had become more reserved, more contained. Before, he had been carefree about life in general, had told people that he had better things in life to think about rather than such menial things like where the next meal was going to come from. When questioned or criticised about his appearance, he would have simply laughed and scoffed and said the same thing that he would have said to anyone who could even be bothered to tell him that he looked like a disgusting slob. An undeniably attractive but hideous slob.

'My appearance? I have better things to care about. Appearances aren't so important, are they?' Yet, despite his motto at the time, he had always ensured that his place looked habitable, looked presentable and somewhat homely.

Now though, that had all disappeared. That great appetite and love for life had all been hopelessly destroyed and swept away. Dante no longer seemed to care about much, the light in his eyes had become dull, and there always seemed to be a terrubke pain in them that none of his few friends could ever possibly hope to figure out, or understand what the cause of it was. They could only watch helplessly as Dante continued to stumble on through life as though he was something not alive but not quite dead either.

Another thing that had changed about Dante was the fact that he had become more and more aware of his appearance and did all he could to keep himself looking immaculate and well groomed. A complete reversal of the way things had once been. Now his place was a shambles and he was utterly flawless in looks and clothes. Sometimes, his friends felt that it seemed as though it was all that he had left to care about. None of them ever realized that it was closer to the truth than they thought.

He had also become more reserved, but not by much. He was still prone to bouts of cockiness, was still more than able to trash-talk with the best of them, and was still able to cut anyone down to size with his insults. When it came down to cussing, the man was nothing less than a legend. But there was still the disturbing feeling that something was painfully lacking about his whole demeanor, that there was something not right, that he was still too quiet, that he still wasn't the Dante that his friends had known before.

But what they didn't know was that Dante felt as though it all belonged in a time that was long since past, that it no longer had its place in his present life. It belonged to better, brighter times, that had known evil but had recovered, had recovered almost instantly to his eyes.

The door to his office was pushed open suddenly and the much changed man stared at the wreckage of his office dispassionately. He sighed as he made his way to his leather chair, the only thing that did not have rubbish on it. He opened his top drawer, his eyes softening slightly as he stared at a brown fingerless glove that had a tear on the palm of it, the cut perfect, with no hint of fraying. It was perfect, utterly flawless and clean.

For some odd reason, it always gave him a strange sense of comfort, that all that he had witnessed before now had really happened. He had watched Vergil fall, he had fought with him three times. He had bumped into her five times, had fought her twice, once near a pool of her own father's blood, the second time in the library. He had been given her most treasured belonging and he had returned it to her, as well as giving her another gift, just as precious and sacred. His respect for her.

_No…no…no…stop this madness, Dante. Don't think about her. Stop doing this. Stop doing this to yourself. Stop torturing yourself like this. What good will any of this do, really? _But as soon as Dante thought this, he had already come up with a reply. _Because I want to know…no...I need to know that all of this really happened, that it is not just some figment of my imagination or my mind playing tricks on me. _He sighed softly to himself at that point as he stared about at the horrendous mess in his office, as he stared closely at the blood staining the walls as it had dripped from the heads of demons that he had killed in the past. He watched as a fly buzzed about, feasting on the remains of a particularly ancient slice of pizza. _Perhaps it would have been better if none of it had ever happened. If Vergil hadn't turned to the darkness, if our parents were still alive. If we were never cursed with our powers. Maybe it would have turned out differently, had I never met her. _

Why did he continue to sit here, in his leather chair, day after day, and wait for the phone to ring? Dante knew the answer to that question but did not dare to answer it, knowing that it would sound foolish even to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

_To be entirely honest with all of you who might be reading this, I don't think this fic is going to be so long. I also don't think that there's going to be a plot of any kind, hence the title. I will be uncovering events as I see them in my own mind, but again, I'm being honest here and I'm not a natural romantic. _

_In other words, it's pretty damn hard for me to write this fic, which is probably the reason why it's taking me so long to get each chapter out for you guys to read._

_There's also going to be a pattern to this fic as well in that one chapter will be happy, and one chapter will deal with the scenes seen in Devil May Cry 1 and 2. I think, in all honesty, that these scenes are going to be way better written than the "happy memories" but time will tell and only then we'll see._

_Just wanted to clear this up and beg forgiveness for the extremely slow updating that's been taking place recently. I'm not dead, I'm still here and I'm going to be here for what seems to be a very long time. Thanks everyone._

_Also, another small note; it appears as though my shift button and my caps lock button is malfunctioning. So if you see little typos regarding my Capital letters, well…it's not my fault._

_Anyway, without further ado, Read, Review if you want, but most of all, ENJOY._

**Chapter 3**

The sun shone brilliantly in the cloudless blue sky, casting mirages, making the world look as if it was shimmering, like some kind of drugged dream. Dante stared out at the landscape before him, a smile plastered onto his face. Lady was still asleep, the white sheets draped around her petite body. Dante turned his head to stare back at her, a fond smile gracing his lips. She looked so delicate, like some kind of flower. He laughed softly to himself and shook his head. Listen to him! One would think that he was turning soft as he grew older, and damn it all to hell, he wasn't _that_ old!

And not only that, he knew that Lady was anything but delicate. She only looked delicate when she was asleep, or when she wasn't kicking ass. And damn it, that never happened. She never acted like the human they both knew she was, and it was only one of the reasons why he loved her so desperately.

He took a sip from the cool liquid, savouring the feel of the cold glass against his lips. He licked at them afterwards and set the glass back on the table, staring back out over the plains. It was odd to think that he was in Spain of all places, so far away from home and that Lady was right by his side.

It had been about three years now. Lady was now twenty years old, Dante himself being twenty two. They were still so young, still had so much more ahead of them and they'd lasted through thick and thin through so long. Dante felt confident in the thought that yes, they would certainly be together for a long time to come, that this relationship of theirs was the one, that it completed him in a way that nothing else would ever do.

He couldn't help laughing at that either. Who would have thought that there was this hidden side to him? Well, he certainly hadn't banked on it, that was for sure. And none of his friends had thought that there was a secret romantic side to him either. At the beginning, when Dante had met Lady for the first time after the events of Temen-Ni-Gru, well, it had been more or less disastrous to say the least.

They had agreed to meet up and Dante, acting like a typical teenager who knows he's absolutely besotted with a girl, asked whether they could meet up "just as friends". Lady had been extremely suspicious to begin with, the tone of voice that she had used while on the phone to him had been a huge hint to this fact and Dante managed to pick up on it easily enough. For once.

Now that he looked back on it, it was surprising exactly how much thought he had put into everything, and how insightful he had been. It seemed as though this rare insight was only reserved for when Lady was involved. He had known better than to suggest going out to see a film either at the cinema, or renting a video or a DvD and watching it at home while stuffing their faces full of pop-corn and pizza. He had known straightaway, just from listening to her voice, that a trip to the nearby club would also be out of the question. So it was that he descended gratefully onto the one thing he knew they both had in common with each other.

'Demons. Huge hoard of them. Just a little outside the city. Wanna come?' He had somehow been able to make it sound like an invitation, had tried to gloss over his awkwardness by putting on a macho façade, his cockiness rising to the fore. Lady had paused and Dante had known, just _known_ that her eyebrows had been raised, not quite believing but yet, somehow wanting to in spite of herself.

It was yet another thing that Dante had been able to gain insight to; Lady knew her weaknesses. She was naïve, sure, but she _knew_ she was when it came down to social situations and as a result, had come to suspect everyone and everything, almost bordering on the verge of being paranoid. Okay, okay, so maybe that wasn't the _best_ example.

Lady knew that she was strong compared to all other humans her age and gender but she had been able to realize at the crucial moment that no, her strength really was nothing compared to the strength of the hybrids, the supernatural creatures that she had somehow found herself surrounded by.

It could have all ended so very differently had it not been for this particular quality of her's, her ability to see her own faults at the crucial moment. She was stubborn to a fault but had been able to stop her little display when it had all come down to the boil. If she hadn't? Well, Dante didn't like to think of _that_ very much. Besides, what did it matter anyway? Lady was here, he was here, Temen-Ni-Gru wasn't, Vergil wasn't…though that wasn't something to be pleased about and Arkham? Well, hopefully he would actually stay dead and he'd never have to see his ugly face again.

It seemed as if villains always had a hard time staying defeated.

Dante dragged his thoughts away from such unpleasant things and forced his mind to think of better, more enjoyable things as he stared out across the Spanish land that lay before him, an inviting country that just begged to be explored. Maybe they would have time to take a look around after they finished off the demonic invasion that was taking place here. Eventually, his mind was able to pick up on its former path and Dante sat back, letting the sun dance across his youthful features, bathing his silver hair with golden light.

They had both agreed to go demon hunting, and they had agreed to meet halfway between where they lived. Dante knew better than to stop by her house, it would make her suspicious, it would make the first part seem too date-like for her tastes. And if anyone had stopped to ask Dante whether he was at all disappointed that it wasn't a date, he would have told them that he wasn't, that he was just happy enough to be seeing her again.

Something inside him had told him that this was all so much more than just a crush. This had gone onto the next level; infatuation. Or was it obsession? Hell, it hadn't even once mattered to him; all he had known was that this was nothing as juvenile as a crush.

That night, as the time had drawn near, Dante had agonized over his appearance, had agonized over the idea that maybe he looked too neat for once in his life. If he was neater than usual, then it would completely blow the game, but if he was scruffier than was normal then it would seem as though he was making a point that this wasn't a date, and Lady would get suspicious and figure out that the non-date really _was_ seen as a date by the hunter and then…well…that too would end up blowing the game. In short, he was utterly screwed.

Then he had seen the time, had seen that he was five minutes late and instantly forgot his quandary and rushed towards his bike, only to realize that it was flush out of gas. When he eventually managed to get to the meeting place by taking a form of demonic transport (the bus) he was half an hour late and was feeling miserable because of it. And even worse, Lady was nowhere to be seen. He had looked about desperately and when he eventually spotted her, his heart had sank to his stomach. For there she was, talking to another _guy_! Ugh…it had looked as though he was too late, in more ways than one. Lady smiled that thin half smile of hers and then waved him over. Dante had no option but to trudge towards her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He feigned a look of complete boredom as Lady blithely introduced the two.

'Derek, this is my friend, Dante. The one I told you about? Dante, this is my boyfriend, Derek.' Derek had smiled and had held out his hand. Dante, not wanting to seem utterly incapable had taken it and had made a point of squeezing Derek's hand just a _little_ too hard, causing the other to pull his hand away with a sharp wince.

'Quite a handshake you got there.'

'Oh, I have a hell of a lot more besides _that_.' Dante stretched at that point, his arms reaching over his head so then his coat shifted slightly, revealing the guns that lay carefully concealed underneath. Derek's eyes widened but Lady leaned over at that point and whispered something into his ear. Derek, oddly enough, immediately relaxed and shot him a warm smile. It was nervous, but it was a smile nonetheless.

'Nice seeing you, Dante,' he murmured. He looked towards Lady at that point, who was sitting gracefully on her bike. 'Have fun.'

'Will do,' Lady smiled at him. She watched as Derek walked away before turning towards the devil-hunter, her smile completely erased from her petite features. 'Where the hell's your bike?' And just like that, all sweetness had gone, leaving behind the woman who Dante had become attracted to. He grinned and shrugged helplessly.

'I ran out of gas.'

'If only your mouth could do the same. And your ass too for that matter.'

'That was a _bad_ burrito, okay?' Dante huffed, narrowing his eyes.

'Get on,' Lady grumbled, tilting her head to indicate the seat behind her. 'I'm only going to do this once so you'd better be grateful.' Dante complied hurriedly, trying to act with just a bit of annoyance when in reality, he was thrilled. He was barely settled before Lady revved the engine and shot off along the road, like an arrow fired from a bow.

The next two hours passed uneventfully., Lady drove, Dante saw the demons first, they got off, they drew their weapons, they charged, they slaughtered and Dante got his coat ripped several more times. All in all, it was pretty standard fare.

But the real disaster struck as the two made their way back to the city, Lady being generous enough to drop Dante back off at the agency.

'By the way,' Dante began, 'what did you say to Derek?'

'Nothing much.'

'Tell me?' Dante had put on his cute, clueless act. Lady sighed and rolled her eyes.

'I told him that you were gay.'

'You _what!_'

'Well it's true, isn't it?'

'_No_!'

'Really?' Lady sounded genuinely surprised and this only served to infuriate the slayer even more.

'What the _hell_ gave you _that_ idea?'

'Well…' Lady had the grace to look slightly sheepish. But she wasn't sheepish enough in Dante's eyes and his temper soared so then it was close to breaking point. Lady continued on, blissfully unaware. 'Well…I guess it's because of the way you are. You've got something to hide so you act all arrogant and cocky and shit. Then you carry around those huge swords and one of them, well, the TIP of one of them looks a bit like a penis. And then you-'

'But I tried to _kiss_ you!' Dante blurted, his annoyance getting the better of him. Lady was quiet for a long while after that and Dante had wondered whether he had somehow over-stepped the line. Then he decided in a bout of self-righteousness that Lady had stepped so far past the line in the first place by saying he was gay. At length, he couldn't bear the silence anymore and he smiled smugly.

'Yeah, I tried to kiss you. You don't have a comeback for _that_, do you!' Dante challenged. Lady sighed softly.

'Anything to keep up a pretence, Dante dear…'

Well…that had _definitely _put him back in his place and there was no doubt about it.

'So…are you?' Lady asked after another long pause.

'Am I what?' Dante snapped.

'Gay!'

'NO!'

Unsurprisingly, once Dante was dropped off back at his place, he headed straight for the bar. And even worse was the fact that when he got there, his friends were there too. He had had no choice but to sit with them and let them buy him round after round after round. And his friends were drunk enough to decide that it would be a good idea to ask him what had happened. After all, Dante rarely went to a bar unless he was acutely depressed about something and needed to get merry. And Dante happened to be drunk enough on that night to blurt out the entire sorry episode.

'Ow man! That's harsh!' Enzo had laughed drunkenly. Another of his friends, who perhaps wasn't as drunk as everyone else looked at Dante quietly.

'So…' he asked softly. 'You gonna see her again?'

'COURSE NOT!' Enzo hiccupped loudly. 'YOU AREN'T, ARE YOU?'

'Well _yeah_,' Dante blinked, surprised back into sobriety. 'Of _course_ I'm going to see her again!'

And so the teasing had begun. They had claimed that it was just a phase, that it would never last, that he'd find someone else and then he'd be back to normal.

Three years had passed and normality hadn't returned.

And if Dante was honest about it?

Well…

He liked it better this way.


End file.
